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Olidammara
Olidammara delights in wine, women, and song. He is a vagabond, a prankster, and a master of disguise. His temples are few, but many people are willing to raise a glass in his honor. Rogues and bards are frequently among his worshipers. His title is the Laughing Rogue. His magical mask allows him to take any form, however. His favored musical instrument, the Kantele of the Oldest, can conjure illusions and real matter and shape the emotions of those who listen to its sounds as if they were moist clay. * Other Names: '''The Laughing Rogue * '''Rank of Deity: '''Intermediate * '''Symbol: Laughing Mask, the kantele, and number 9. * Places Worshiped: Gelowyn, Treienandor, Bekorum, Jesua, Tolish, Eyshabree, Belplundi, Adalancia, Conja, Sträd * Home Plane: Ysgard * Alignment: Chaotic Neutral * Portfolio: Music, Revels, Wine, Rogues, Humor, Tricks * Worshipers: rogues, bards, beggars, thieves, and all lovers of life. * Cleric Alignments: CG, CN, CE, TN * Domains: Luck, Mind, Travel, Trickery ** Sub-Domains: Trickery (thievery) * Favoured Weapon: Rapier Dogma Olidammara teaches his followers to avoid predictability and routine, to delight in wine, to learn music, to seek out happiness, joy, entertainment, and the company of others. Olidammara advises his faithful to appreciate both the jokes they play and the jokes played on them. He also teaches that misery, temperance, and solemnity are the greatest poisons to the soul. Scriptures Olidammara's religion lacks a single holy book, but instead maintains hundreds of mutually contradictory collections of parables and songs. Any attempt to codify or reconcile these texts is anathema to Olidammara's creed, which teaches that chaos should be embraced and material things have little importance or intrinsic value. Codes ' These vary greatly from region to region, but most trained in Eyshabreen will have learned the lessons as taught by Aulerica the Swift of Metheka: * Do not bow to anyone. Well, okay, if you want to tip your head as a greeting or as a bit of romantic flair, that's all fine and well and stylish. But no prostrating yourself before a guy like you're going to kiss his feet! Definitely no prostrating. Not even to the gods. Not even to your pal Olidammara. Especially not, even! Bow only to yourself. Die before accepting any master who would require you to kiss the dirt. Bowing like a magician to a round of applause is fine. You can bow to show off. Bowing in submission is not! Got it? Good! * Be true to yourself. Put no master before yourself. Find out what you are ''really greedy for and pursue that desire. * Have a sense of humor. Do not be somber and boring. Definitely don't be depressing, because then you'll be depressed and that's not in your interest at all. Liven things up! I don't really care how you do it. Keep a few tricks up your sleeve. * When a dance partner offers you a hand, take the dance. When the house rises in song, let your voice join in. * No vows of poverty or temperance or celibacy or any of that stuff. Why would you do that to yourself? * Do not be a miser. Those guys really ruffle my feathers, they get greed all wrong. Keep as much for yourself as you can meaningfully spend on yourself, no more. If you get more than that, you can spend it on yourself by giving it to others who can make things around you better, and remember all that stuff around you is yours too whether the law says you own it or not. That money does you no good rotting in a warehouse somewhere, unspent. It has to be out there in the world doing something. * Give away all your stuff when you die. Don't just keep it all in an estate. That's not even good for your kids. Have you seen those spoiled kids? You don't want that, do you? Heck, they probably don't even want that, even if they don't know it yet. '''Do's and Don'ts How the faith handles these common issues: * Adultery ** Whenever possible * Indulgence ** Always! * Narcotics ** Yes please * Killing ** Only if they really pissed you off * Locale Laws ** What are those? * Lying ** Never * Other Faiths ** Hahahahahaha.... * Pride ** ;) * Prejudice ** All men who can drink should be free, all men who don't should be paying! * Races ** You have to admire he little folk, and you have to try and make the big green ones smile * Stealing ** removed * Wealth ** Spend in haste, steal back in leasure Penances Should you not live in a way best suited to what Olidammara has in mind, nothing sorts you out like a good bender with your friends, and you'll either find the answer in the bottom of a botttler the gutter somewhere. If its a really bad offence though you may want to put your life at risk for a great and daring deed of robbery from the arrogant and oppressive, then maybe afterwards Oli will give you back those powers that would have so helped on a mission like that. Clergy Olidammara's clerics often have a second occupation, such as vintners and entertainers in urban areas, or as minstrels, messengers, and jacks-of-all-trades in rural areas. Appearance They wear comfortable clothes, preferring browns, greens, and blacks. Some wear an actual mask as their holy symbol, while others merely wear a signet or amulet inscribed with a drawing of a mask. Behavior The cheeky, smiling, over loud person at a party who is always willing to grab a guitar time impress but also get up in someones face who causing trouble and steal their purse. Duties of the Priesthood Drink, sing and be merry! Title'''s '''and Rank Ranks are very unofficial in the Olidammara church but sometimes in more lyrical lands priests are referred informally as Frets, so a first first Fret , or lower Fret cleric is just starting out where the Higher Frets are veterans who know a lot and have many great deeds they've never been caught for. There is no way to prove this rank except by the validation of others and proving your ability to someone. S'ayings ' * "Oh okay, ONE more..." * "I swear I didn't know she was married!" Practices Gambling Some temples do collections via gambling, with parishioners betting on what curve the storyteller is going to throw in next to modify the parable they're preaching. It keeps the stories morphing while it also requires that the faithful actually know the dogma and the material. It also funds the temple in a way that's difficult to account for, allowing certain acquisitions to be explained away. Services Temples of Olidammara often pride themselves on "nobody falling asleep" during their services, which are often laden with music, entertainment (including things like ledgerdemain "magic" shows), games, and raucous storytelling. Pranks, too, are sacred, because things need to be stirred up from time to time to give life its proper spice. Beliefs and Customs Odd things those of the faith think * Greed is not a sin, for it is desire that makes anything precious and sacred in the first place * Making a small theft before leaving a town is a way to bless a mission with good luck Terminology What this faith often refers to things as in their church and perception * A Friend of the Bottle - a priest of Olidammara * Canticle - most verbal spells * Rogues Handshake - picking pockets * Thieves Handshake - stabbing someone unsuspecting * "I'll be back in a bit" - "you'll never see me again" Cleric Training Becoming a cleric of Olidammara seems easy enough to an outsider; it looks like one celebration and escapade after another. But would-be clerics are being keenly observed even in their least sober moments as more senior followers of the Laughing God look for the right mixture of joy, whimsy, and mischief. Quests Missions that steal from the rich or embarrass the mighty are the headiest wine of all. Followers of Olidammara might engage in intrigues at the Duke's masquerade ball, steal offerings from the temple of a rival deity, or rescue a world-famous thief from a prison. Prayers Olidammara's prayers are more often sung than spoken, and they almost always rhyme. There are very few established liturgies, because Olidammara's worshipers are expected to freestyle-rhyme praises to their deity. * add ones that are particularly good here Temples Small shrines to Olidammara are more common than actual temples; these can be found anywhere, in pubs, in dens of thieves, and in the form of piles of stones at roadsides, carved with his symbol. Most faithful drop a small token of their esteem by the shrine: a few coins, a bit of tasty food, or a cup of wine. Many of Olidammara's temples are converted inns or taverns, while some are theaters or actual thieves' guilds. Services typically involve songs, feasts, and a much drinking. Simple shrines to Olidammara are common in concert halls and public houses. However, the larger temples are hidden (often in the city's sewer network), because they double as a hideout for thieves. Those who know where a temple to Olidammara is can buy or sell all sorts of stolen or forbidden goods there. Rites Olidammara's rites range from the simple. Most feature alcohol, song, and laughter. * Ceremony of the Cork ** Practiced when a particularly good bottle of wine is opened) * New Moon Follies ** A three-act comedy performed by and for Olidammara worshipers * Barrel of Repentance ** A whole barrel of alcohole must be drunk with at least two freinds and all night they must drink * ""Gambling Day"" ** One a week or when enough people are gathered or feeling wealthy, clerics of Olidammara have wagers with previous items, from magic to maps and services on the table. Holy Days The entire week of Brewfest is considered a holy time by Olidammara's faithful. Other holidays include: The Feast of the Doubling Dare Celebrated just after the new year, this holiday includes a contest in which the participants challenge each other to perform ever-wilder pranks and deeds. * Held in January '' 'The Masquerade of Masks' On this day everyone places mask on them and are free of all judgement and inhibitions and dance and sing, eat and steal, and come the night time revel in faceless but harmless debauchery. * ''Held in April The Great Escape This is a reenactment of Olidammara's capture by and escape from the archmage Zagig, and is celebrated on a Godsday when the weather is pleasant. * Held in July Taste of a Hundred Years This is an annual wine-tasting event where a cask is opened that was vinted exactly a century before. * Held in November Parables It is said that Olidammara invented wine as a gift for Moradin... which kept the Soul Forger distracted from his mischief. This is why it is good to be friendly to you enemies; it lowers their guard. Heralds and Allies A 24-HD death chaos frog is Olidammara's herald, although it rarely takes its true form. Allies are janni genies, gray slaads, and death slaads. History and Legends Olidammara is an exceedingly old deity. His worship is thought to have originated among nomads and travelers of no particular race, but it soon spread to settled communities and cities. He was known to the ancient Greki, who revered him in the shrine in the Topavult peninsula known to day as the Burning Ring. He was known to the Latanish as well, and is sometimes counted among the Latanish pantheon. Framing and Redemption Olidammara was one of many gods who initially refused to take part in the Gods Feuding, this ultimately spelled his downfall, though, when Kollox successfully managed to shift the blame for Aramar's murder onto the Laughing God. His chaotic, trickster nature led many gods to quickly believe his treachery, and he spent much of the Reckoning evading their attacks. He was ultimately vindicated when he saved Pelor, whom he had never gotten along with, from an ambush by Orcus. This act came at the cost of his own life, however, as Orcus plunged Rod of Orcus into Olidammara's back during his retreat. Olidammara's act to save Pelor allowed him to be worshiped in his new lands (most notably Eyshabreen centuries later) where he has been forever depicted as always wearing his mask (when not in disguise) making some believe he was scarred somehow by the Rod. Relics of Olidammara Pipes of Amorous Revelry These pipes were originally created by a secretive order of bard/clerics devoted to Olidammara. For the past several centuries, members of the order have distributed them to musically inclined followers of the deity. Rapier of Desperate Measures The ﬁrst of these rapiers was crafted by a rogue/sorcerer who had been rescued one too many times by her party’s paladin, only to hear a lecture on her erratic behavior. She gave the rapier to a disguised Olidammara when she met him in a tavern. Since then, the Laughing Rogue has awarded one of these rapiers to a fellow traveler whenever the whim strikes him. The last known Rapier was seen in a small village in east Eyshabreen. 'Game Rules for Olidammara Clerics' All clerics of Olidammara get a +2 bonus to Fort Saving Throws to resist getting drunk and hangovers as per these rules here Magic *'Variant Channeling '(Mischief and Disguises) Bonus Class Skill Options: *Bluff, Perform (sing), (dance), (stringed instrument) Bonus Feat Options: *Decietful Advanced Feat Options: *Divine Deception Category:God Category:Lore